Page 118 of Bump and Run

She takes a quick step away, knocking my hands off her arms. “Junior, we both have a lot on our minds right now. You have your game and I have my show, so can we just focus on those right now, please?”

She dodges around me before I can even respond, taking off towards the auditorium like a damn bullet.

“Ellie, what did I do?”

Her pace slows and she turns back for a second. “Nothing,” she answers, her eyes still locked to the floor between us. “Bye, Junior.”

I let her leave, keeping my eyes on her until she disappears behind the large double doors.

What did I do?

It had to be something I did, right? Girls don’t just break-up with you for no reason. There’s always a reason — something concrete that you can look back on that pinpoints the exact moment when things went wrong. An emotional linchpin that brings everything down.

Or maybe I’m not the one who pulled it at all.

Being with Eliza Pierce was always a risk and that risk had a face.

Cary Pierce.

I spin towards the exit as Grant steps into the lobby. “Grant!”

He glances up from the floor, his entire body weighed down with nerves. “Oh, hey, Lover Boy.”

“Have you talked to Eliza today?”

“No,” he says. “Not since dress rehearsal yesterday. Why?”

“There’s something wrong with her.”

He stands up a little taller. “How so?”

“She’s… distant. She won’t talk to me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with her,” he chuckles. “It’s opening night. You’re lucky I’m even forming complete sentences right now.”

“No, this is different. She just broke up with me.”

He pauses. “Okay, yeah, that’s weird.”

“I need you to go in there and ask her what happened, then text me what she says.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Grant, come on,” I argue. “This is important.”

“So is this,” he says. “I don’t expect a big jock like you to understand but what you’re asking of me is in direct violation of the code of friendship. If I did that, it’d be a serious breach of trust. I will not, under any circumstances—”

“I’ll let you borrow the Junior-mobile for a night.”

His brows twitch. “A weekend,” he counters. “Next weekend. Ty and I have plans.”

I nod. “It’s all yours.”

“Deal. Give me ten minutes.”

“Thank you.”

Grant heads for the auditorium and I pull my phone out of my pocket. It’s almost five now. I want to stay here and get to the bottom of this but I can’t exactly skip out on the game either.

I leave for the stadium, keeping my head down to avoid the constant cries of people screaming my name. Usually, this turns me on like nothing else. I used to make sure they noticed me but right now, there’s a not a damn thing that will stop me from getting to the locker room and out of sight.

What happened, Ellie?

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